Description
Alton Brown’s hearty lentil soup blends Mediterranean flavors with rustic comfort. Packed with aromatic herbs and nutritious ingredients, this simple yet satisfying dish promises warmth and nourishment for hungry diners.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb (454 g) lentils, picked and rinsed
- 2 quarts (1.9 L) chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 tbsps (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 cup (240 ml) peeled and chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- ½ cup finely chopped carrot
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- 2 tsps (10 g) kosher salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground coriander
- ½ tsp freshly ground toasted cumin
- ½ tsp freshly ground grains of paradise
Instructions
- Vegetable Preparation: Dice carrots, chop celery, and slice onions into uniform pieces to ensure even cooking and consistent flavor distribution.
- Sautéing Foundation: Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium temperature, then gently sauté vegetables with a pinch of salt until onions become translucent and develop a subtle golden hue, approximately 6-7 minutes.
- Liquid Integration: Add lentils, tomatoes, broth, cumin, coriander, and grains of paradise into the aromatic vegetable base, stirring to create a harmonious mixture that allows ingredients to meld together seamlessly.
- Simmering Process: Elevate heat to trigger a vigorous boil, then immediately reduce to low, covering the pot to allow gentle simmering for 35-40 minutes until lentils reach a perfectly tender consistency.
- Texture Transformation: Deploy an immersion blender to metamorphose the soup into a velvety, smooth composition, breaking down vegetables and lentils into a luxurious, uniform texture that promises rich, complex flavors.
Notes
- Optimize Vegetable Sautéing: Precisely dice vegetables uniformly to ensure even cooking and consistent flavor distribution throughout the soup.
- Perfect Lentil Tenderness: Monitor lentils closely during simmering to achieve ideal soft texture without becoming mushy or losing structural integrity.
- Blending Technique: Use immersion blender cautiously, creating a partly smooth consistency that retains some lentil and vegetable texture for enhanced mouthfeel.
- Spice Balance: Toast cumin and coriander briefly before adding to intensify their aromatic compounds and deepen the soup’s overall flavor profile.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Dinner
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Fiber: 12 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg